Gravedancer

14. HAVE A NICE DAY!

Stand up, my heart, and strive

For the things most dear to thee!

-The Peaceful Warrior, Henry Van Dyke, 1918.

In daylight, the inside of the Witch House wasn't all that scary anymore. The lights from outside could make it through to the inside, and we settled in the dining room just for the sake of the windows.

"Here," Isaac said as he pushed the dining table a little so that it turned. "Clear space in the middle of the room. Usually helps focus. Should we stay outside, or...?"

"That's up to you, I'll do just fine," I said as I sat down in the then-cleared middle of the room. I took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

I shut my eyes and tried to empty my mind. I could feel everything: the soft heat from the sunlight through the window, the dusts that flew about when Isaac moved the dining table, the soft creaks on the floor when either Barney or Isaac shifted their balance, the fabric of my clothes on my skin...

A necklace around my neck.

The Clear Sight.

I decided to anchor myself to it.

My whole world shrank in the darkness. Every scent became so sharp, and I could feel something sweet and tangy in my mouth - remains of the catalyst after I threw it up. But as my mind finally went blank, save for the anchor I put on the Clear Sight, my senses - just as suddenly as they became so sharp - became numb.

I couldn't feel a thing.

Then the sensation began: it first felt like I was dizzying out of focus. I was losing track of where gravity was coming from; I felt like falling but my body wouldn't move at all.

Then I fell into the darkness.

It started as a soft pull on my stomach, but when gravity finally affixed on a point far below me, the pull grew rapidly stronger - in no time, I could feel that I was freefalling.

I tried to think of anything but something to grab on. I felt myself pummeling downwards faster, and it was getting harder to overcome my instinct to find something to grab on or hope for a soft landing, but I wouldn't let my two hours of training go to waste.

Let go.

I tried clearing my mind again. My heart was racing, and it wasn't a good sign when trying to project.

No happy thoughts. Just let go.

Just let go...

My self-preservation instinct finally surrendered and I felt myself falling into the infinite abyss below me.

Then I hit the light.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was still in the exact position and place where I left off. So I stood up.

I practically left my own body.

It was weird. I looked down and realized that I couldn't see my incorporeal body, but I could've sworn that it was overlapping with my corporeal one, the body that still sat down there with his eyes shut peacefully.

I tried taking a pace away from my body. Seriously, it felt weird. It wasn't like that moment when you look at a mirror and see yourself in it. It was almost like seeing someone else entirely, who just happened to bear a very strong resemblance to you.

And you know it was you.

Maybe the knowledge was what made it so weird. But I decided that if I lingered any longer, I would lose track of time, and time was really of the essence.